The Iternet Issues in the new Law on Mass Media :: Charter'97 :: News

The Belarusian independent journalists say that the law “On the changes and amendments to the Law of Republic of Belarus “On press and other mass media sources”” will put more pressure on their activity. The reason for such alerts is that the law has been worked on for more than 2 years in full secrecy. The document is subject for final discussions at the Administration of President before it is passed for consideration to “the parliament”. It is expected to happen by the end of this year. Vadzim Hadasousky, a journalist of “The Belarusian Market”, addressed Mikhail Pastuhou, Doctor of Law, the chairman of the civil center for legal assistance to mass media at the Belarusian Association of Journalists, asking to comment on the situation. Mr. Pastuhou said that the information traffic in the Internet might be tracked as well.

-Mikhail Ivanavich, to what extent can the new law on mass media restrain the editors’ offices and journalists?

-If passed as of today, it will set serious barriers for normal functioning of mass media. First of all, the procedure of registration will be more complex, there will be more opportunities for controlling their actions, the most important is that the journalist will become a hostage of his or her profession, as there will be a lot of opportunities to accuse them with no right for self-defense against the claims of officials and especially the authorities.

-A lot of printed editions have their electronic version in the Internet. How are the activities of the electronic mass media regulated?

-The mass media regularly collecting, saving, processing, and spreading information through the global networks are considered to be “network mass media”. Such a mass media organization is a subject to registration along with other printed editions. That means that the state tries to impose control on regular information distributors in the Internet. We speak about Internet editions in the first turn. The requirements set are practically the same as those for printed mass media with the exception of editorial information, where not a juridical, but the Internet address must be mentioned.